Australia's Westpac falls as Jefferies cuts PT on persistent margin pressure

** Shares of Australia's Westpac Banking WBC.AX fall as much as 2% to A$36.450, their biggest intraday pct loss since October 26

** Analysts at Jefferies lower the price target for WBC to A$34.44 from A$34.99, and retain "hold" rating

** Jefferies says some Q4FY26 net interest margin (NIM) headwinds for Westpac should unwind in H1FY27, but expect underlying margin pressure to persist as hedge benefits slow

** Westpac, Australia's second-largest home lender by assets, posted annual net profit excluding notable items of A$6.99 billion ($4.90 billion) on Monday, in line with Visible Alpha consensus estimate

** Brokerage lowers FY27-29 earnings estimate by 1-2% for Westpac on weaker NIM

** Westpac said mortgage applications fell 15% in the September quarter from a year earlier, but remained above the five-year average for the period

** WBC down 5.4%, YTD, including the session's moves

($1 = 1.4253 Australian dollars)